The present disclosure is related generally to the field of dental treatment. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to interproximal reduction planning.
Many dental treatments involve repositioning misaligned teeth and changing bite configurations for improved cosmetic appearance and dental function. Orthodontic repositioning can be accomplished, for example, through a dental process that uses one or more removable positioning appliances for realigning teeth.
Such appliances may utilize a shell of material having resilient properties, referred to as an “aligner” that generally conforms to a patient's teeth but is slightly out of alignment with the initial tooth configuration. Placement of an appliance over the teeth can provide controlled forces in specific locations to gradually move the teeth into a new configuration. Repetition of this process with successive appliances in progressive configurations can move the teeth through a series of intermediate arrangements to a final desired arrangement.
Repositioning a patient's teeth may result in residual crowding of adjacent teeth due to insufficient space within the patient's mouth. This residual crowding can impede complete tooth alignment. In some situations it may be possible to remove a small portion of a tooth, or portions of two adjacent teeth, in order to make the teeth fit within the space available. The removal of material causing the overlap of the crowded teeth must be treated by the treatment professional by removing material from the surface of one or more teeth in a process called interproximal reduction (IPR). During an IPR procedure, a small amount of enamel thickness on the surface of the teeth is removed to reduce the mesial-distal width and space requirements for the tooth.
One problem experienced during dental treatment is the determination by the treatment professional of whether an IPR procedure is necessary and the timing of IPR within the treatment. If the IPR procedure is conducted in a stage of the treatment that is too early or too late, the treatment professional may have poor access to the surfaces of the one or more teeth intended to be removed. Further, the treatment professional may inaccurately remove material from the surface of the tooth resulting in an undesired tooth shape, a tooth surface that does not fit properly against another tooth, and potentially having to perform additional IPR procedures and/or other procedures to fix the overlap or newly created underlap.